Our Hope

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Our Hope

23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  

Life is about hope everyone hopes for something better. Everyone desires for something to improve in their lives. Which is natural. But in what do you put your hope? Jesus is the only one that promised rest, salvation, life, forgiveness, love, restoration and freedom. He is the only one that proved an ability to provided those things as a result of His resurrection. He is the only source of hope. Only He can fulfill your hope.

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Where Can I Go?

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Where Can I Go?

1 You have searched me, Lord,

and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

you, Lord, know it completely.

5 You hem me in behind and before,

and you lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast. Pslam139:1-10

These verses are both exhilarating and frightening.  If you belong to God, it is wonderful to know that where ever you are He is with you. It is reassuring to know that He knows you inside and out that He is with you always these are things that we who call upon Him cherish. 

For those who are fighting aginst or are in opposition to Him, they must find these verses to be utterly frightening. Knowing that God knows you better than you know yourself must be sobering and frightening. Knowing that none of the beneficial promises of God pertain to you must be demoralizing, to say the least. I imagine the only hope for those in opposition to God is that He does not exist. A vain hope of an undeniable reality. For God is alive, Always has been and always will be. 

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Such a Time as This.

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Such a Time as This.

14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

Often for fear or for want of peace and personal security, we remain silent. Most of us will never be, as Esther was, in the king's court or in a position of influence to effect national policy. However, God will someday ask you to stand for Him in the midst of an uncertain outcome. It may not be in a situation of national survival as in the story of Esther. But it will be in a situation that will cost you everything as it did with Esther.  Will you stand or will you fold and let the deliverance come from another. It is at this time that you will know who it is you love what it is you believe. It will most probably not be a physical threat as with Esther, but it will be a spiritual crisis of eternal significance. It will be your time it will be your moment it will determine your eternal destination.  Will you have the courage, the spiritual fortitude to stand alone for God, not knowing the outcome? Will you choose to remain in silent obscured security, or will you accept your call to stand in full unencumbered exposure for the purposes of God?  "For such a time as this."

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Resurrection

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He is Risen

⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28:6
In the book, A case for Christ, the author sets out to prove that the resurrection did not happen. After an exhaustive investigation, the author comes to the conclusion that the resurrection did indeed happen.  He found that the reports in the New Testament were true.

The thing about the truth is, it is indisputable.  What that means is despite your disposition about an event or a report the truth is not affected.  For example, if the resurrection did not happen Christianity is pointless. It would mean that Christ died pretty much the same as any other man. It would dismantle the foundation of every Christian belief. Without the resurrection, Christianity would have fallen off the map as quickly as His death. And that truth would have destroyed Christianity. Your acceptance or rejection of truth does not affect it. In other words, it does not make any difference to the truth if you believe it or not. The truth stands on its own forever, there is nothing that can change or effect the truth.

That is the crux of the issue, is it true? Did the resurrection occur? If it did it, it is truth and just like any other truth, it can not be changed regardless of anyone's support or rejection of it.
He is risen is a statement, the question is it is valid. In the book, the author does an excellent job of answering the questions about the validity of the reports of His resurrection.  As a Christian or a non-Christian, you need to answer this question for yourself.   If He was resurrected your eternity is assured if He wasn't resurrected, you're not bound by any of the claims of Christianity. I believe if you follow the evidence as did the author of the book you will come to the same conclusion. He Is Risen.     

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Yes

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Yes

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"Genesis 4:9

God never answers Cain's question. I speculate He didn't because the answer was self-evident. Yes, he was his brother's keeper. That question is a question that we as a species should be asking each other. Are we our brother's keeper? The answer is yes, we are. It has always been yes. If we were our brother's keeper would we kill each other? If we cared for one another would we hate each other? If we took responsibility for each other would the world be a better place?

After Cain murdered his brother God cursed Him and the rest of humanity. The question I have for you is, did God curse Cain because he killed his brother or did He curse him because he was not his brother's keeper? You do realize that if he had been his brother's keeper, he never would have murdered him.

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You've Been Warned

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You've Been Warned

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” Hebrews 10:26-27 NIV

Some people believe that they can wait until later in life to turn to God. They believe that they can enjoy the sinful things of this world and later turn back to God. They think once they have had their fill of sin God will still be waiting for their repentance. For those of you that may think that this is indeed possible, "no sacrifice for sins is left." Knowledge of the truth of God is not license or freedom to sin. Your opportunity for salvation is forfeited, and you have no further recourse if you "deliberately keep on sinning." This deception that you can later turn back to God is not possible.  The sacrifice of Christ is not a frivolous event that you can pick up and discard at will. It is the line in the sand, of your eternal existence and it will not last forever, and once it is crossed, it can't be undone.  The call of God may only come once in your life, and if you think you can pass on it until it suits you, God's offer may expire by then. God is not sitting, waiting with bated breath for your response.

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Seek

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Seek

 

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

How do you find the “Kingdom of God”? We are told by Jesus to seek the "kingdom of God," but we are not told how. Or are we? Jesus ads “and his righteousness” if there is one are attribute or characteristic of the “kingdom of God” it is righteousness. Righteousness can only be attained through Jesus. So if we are to find the kingdom of God we must seek the righteousness that Jesus has imparted to us then and only then will we find the "kingdom of God." Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

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Confidence

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Confidence

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (NIV)


I have this privilege and confident assurance of knowing if I seek Him I will find Him, and He will help me. My hope and confidence lead me to ask what do societies turn to? The reason we fail personally and corporately is that we do not approach God we do not seek Him we don't receive grace and mercy. We are all the same we need help. Turn to God, seek Him find him get to know Him and obtain His grace and mercy.

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Commanded

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Commanded

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ” Matthew 22:36-38 (NKJV) 

If you look at the meaning of command, you will not find any reference to choice. But to the question  "what is the great commandment" Jesus replies "love the Lord your God." He did not say fall in love with God He said, "love the Lord your God." In our culture, we are taught that we will eventually fall in love with someone, or we will find someone who will love us or that we will love.  Jesus is commanding us to love at will. Then He reiterates it in verse 38 "great commandment." It 's hard for me to negotiate the concept of a command to love God and what I've been taught all of my life. 

I wonder if the person asking the question had this response as a possible answer. If I had asked the question, I would have expected a response along the lines of the ten commandments or some other Jewish law.  But He responded with a command to love. This commandment the most the difficult to obey is the single greatest commandment. It is a commandment, not a choice, not a get to know you then chose scenario.

The way I understand this command is that we are to make a willful, intentional effort to love God. A deliberate attempt to know who God is in order to love Him. This command is not accomplishable without personal intent. You are not going to fall in love with God by coincidence. You can only love God when you make an intentional fully cognizant attempt to know Him.  

God does not want you to love Him because of what He can do for you, He wants you to love Him because you want to. He wants you to love Him unconditionally. He wants you to love Him when your bank account is overflowing He wants you to love Him when your account is overdrawn. He wants you to love Him when you are in the best of health He wants you to love Him when your baby dies. Sometimes love is no more than a choice and at those times He wants you to choose Him.

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A Dreadful Thing

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A Dreadful Thing

31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31

It seems to me that it has become politically incorrect within the Christian church to speak of or insinuate that God will severely judge humanity.  The idea appears to be that those who follow Christ will be rewarded and those that don't will pass through a temporary time of judgment and then cease to exist or allowed to join those that were accepted by God. Or that upon death we will cease to exist. 

The severity of God's judgment will not be in punishment, it will be in eternal separation from Him.  The wrath of God will not be poured out in vengeance, it will be experienced in the complete solitude of the emptiness and absence of God. The torture and hideousness of the judgment of God will not be the fiery pit of Hell it will be in the absolute absence of His righteousness. The piercing pain we should be talking about is the experience of living the remainder of eternity, hopeless without any escape of the depravity of man. The judgment of God will be extremely severe it will be allowing humanity to have what he thinks he wants an eternal existence without God.

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King

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King

5 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. Jeremiah 23:5 (ESV)

Jeremiah is referring to Jesus in this passage but what does the word "King" mean context to Christ. The synonyms are ruler, sovereign, monarch, emperor, prince, potentate, Lord and yet in reference to Christ these synonyms are not enough. He is so much more He is the meaning and purpose of our lives He is the reward. He is the final word He is the first word He is our very hope and at the same time the fulfillment of our hope. He is our security our love. In him, we find the reason we live. He is our very life He is our eternity. He is justice. He is King, and He is sovereign. He is worthy of our worship and praise he is God. With all we try to discrbe Him He libves outsdie the wall of our invention. He always has been more than we can fully comprhend. He is our King and we are His willing subjects.

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By Faith

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By Faith.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:3

Why do we believe by faith? Because we can not see that which is invisible, not because it does not exist. What this verse is saying is, there are things in existence that are beyond our ability to understand, register, or manipulate. There are forces outside our box of existence that created our existence. There is a cause, and the cause is God.

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Eternal Life

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Eternal Life

⁷ then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Genesis 2:7

The writer of Genesis almost casually inserts this statement about the creation of man.  So much so that in my over 30 years as  Christian I have never heard a sermon or read an article on this verse.  In the story of creation, nothing else is formed by God, nothing. Everything is spoken into existence by the sheer power of God. God forms man from the dust of the ground. He forms mans as it were with His own hands. He actually stopped everything to pay singular attention to Adam. In the rest of the story, we see God commanding the created world into existence by His will, by forces we do not know of or understand. But not here, here, He is the one doing the action He is not commanding He is personally creating. Nowhere else does the Bible suggest such an intimate interaction between God and His creation. Humanity was formed and continues to be formed by God.

Now when He is done forming man from the dust of the earth what is left? A lifeless perfectly formed human. A being that is without blemish, sickness either present or genetically inclined or any dormant disease in his DNA.  He is a perfectly formed human being in every way. But He is not alive. In my mind, I see humanity is laying on the dust of the ground from which He was created perfect but lifeless. 

What God does next is what separates humanity from the rest of creation.  God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature." It is not just air that is forced into the lungs of man that brought humanity to life. God breathes the breath of life into man. What is the breath of life? It is the essence of existence that has aways existed, it is the life of God. God infused His life into man to bring him to life. Humanity is eternal because the life of man is the eternity of  God. God who is eternal and cannot die has shared with us a part of His existence, and since He is eternal, all that is of Him must by association be eternal which makes us eternal.  Righteous or unrighteous we will live throughout eternity. 

The only question is will you spend eternity with God, or will you spend eternity permanently separated from God? 

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Every Knee

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11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:11

The day has been set, the time will arrive when everyone will acknowledge and recognize that Jesus is the Lord. Some with great joy some with great fear but to the glory of God, it will happen. 

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It Is Written

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It Is Written

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1
The temptation of Christ is documented in Matthew 4. In this story, we are told Jesus was tempted three times. To each temptation, Jesus answered with "it is written." Jesus the son of God the one through whom all things exist answers "it is written." Jesus was tried, hungry and physically depleted in what must have been a very vulnerable state.  In His physically depleted state, he still has the ability to understand how to deal with this most crucial of moments. He turns to the word of God and finds safety and power in it. Because He had studied it, He hid it in His heart, made it a priority in His life He was able at this great moment of weakness He to rely on His heart to answer the devil in a way in which there was no possible defeat.  
 
Are you there yet? When the temptations and challenges of life come your way are you prepared to answer "it is written?" What is not sufficiently emphasized in this story is that Jesus won. The devil left defeated.  He the devil was no match against the word of God "It is written."

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Goodness and Mercy

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Goodness and Mercy 

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
Psalms 118:1 NKJV

I don't want to take this for granted. For God is the creator of the universe and if He were to require repayment from me for my sins, I would be sorely inadequate to pay.  If I tried to earn salvation, an eternity of good works would not suffice. It is only through His goodness and His redemptive plan that I can attain forgiveness and restoration.  It is through His mercy that we even have a chance of redemption. Remember He did not have to have mercy on us. However, In His goodness He has.

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The Favor of God

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 The Favor of God

11 I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you. Psalms 199:11 

To receive Gods blessings, you must know Him, to know him you need to know His word.  Our comprehension of His word needs to be more than just a rare encounter.  If we do not sin against Him, we are then in position to receive His favor.  It still works today store His word in your heart that you may not sin against Him.

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